The Royale (episode)
The Enterprise investigates the wreckage of a 21st century Earth spaceship orbiting a distant planet and the appearance of a casino with inhabitants based on a paperback novel. Summary This episode begins with an old puzzle. Captain Picard shows Commander Riker how Fermat's last theorem has gone unsolved for 800 years. Soon, the enterprise encounters another mystery: a piece of space debris, part of a large cluster in orbit, in a sector far beyond the reaches of Earth. When beamed aboard, a marking is clearly visible: NASA. Investigation begins with the planet's surface: large concentrations of Ammonia, and other gases, and winds at over 200 mph. When they beam down to an anomalous spot, however, it is quiet, the storm rages above them, and in the black, there is nothing but a revolving door. On the other side, is a lavish hotel and casino, right out of Earth's mid 20th century. Despite the presence of many gamblers and hotel staff, the tricorder reads no life signs, and comm badges have lost their signal. When they attempt to leave, the door revolves them back into the casino. Only after much investigation is contact returned, and they understand what is going on here. They discover a hotel room upstairs with a novel, The Royale, a dead body, and a diary. The last entry reveals aliens building this place for the lone survivor of a disaster they caused, based only on this second rate fictional tome. Conjecturing the book's ending, they attempt to fit in. Rich investors are said to buy the place and walk out, so Data starts gambling at the craps table. Within hours, they are able to get enough money to buy it, and just as the story says, walk out. Log Entries *Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2365 Memorable quotes "What planet is this?" "I beg your pardon?" "This planet. What do you call it?" "Earth. What do you call it?" "We call it Theta VIII." "How charming." : - Riker, Clerk, and Worf "How did you get here?" "Vegas? Drove my car." "Can you take me there?" : - Data and "Texas" "Perhaps those turbolifts can take us there.." : - Worf, about the hotel lift. "Looks like the poor devil died in his sleep." "What a ''terrible ''way to die. ''" :- '''Riker' and Worf "When the train comes in everybody rides!" : - Riker "Revolving door? Number One, proceed with caution. : - Picard Background Information *Fermat's last theorem is mentioned as being unproved for 800 years. In the mid 1990s however (several years after this episode was written) a proof was discovered by Wiles. However, the proof uses methods unknown in Fermat's time, so perhaps this statement refers to proving the theorem in a manner that Fermat might have used. It was later corrected for in a comment made by Jadzia Dax talking to Tobin (embodied in Chief O'Brien during Jadzia's zhian'tara) in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Facets" by making the comment that many others have tried more original approaches to Fermat's Last Theorem since Wiles' original proof in the 1990s. Cliff Bole also directed "Facets". *The idea of an advanced alien race recreating a suitable environment from a wayward astronaut's cultural artifacts in which to live out his final days was first detailed by notable science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. A somewhat similar concept is also explored in the Voyager episode, "Displaced". *The 52-star flag seen in "The Royale" is unusual in that the field of stars rests on a red stripe instead of a white stripe. The 15-star "Star-Spangled Banner" flown over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 was the last such flag, and since then, all flags (then returning to 13 instead of 15 stripes) have had the familiar arrangement of the field being to the left of the first seven stripes and resting on the 8th, a white. This was probably an error in the art department, but being a future flag, it could be "official," with the government making that change for one reason or another -- though it seems unlikely. *The presence of 52 stars on the flag, according to onscreen dialogue, means that it was created sometime between the years 2033 and 2079. It is unknown when the USA added its 51st and 52nd states, or what states those might be (one likely candidate is Puerto Rico, which is already a US territory), although this had to have occurred before 2033. *This episode contains one of the most severe (in scientific terms) factual errors in the Star Trek series. Two minutes into the episode, Geordi claims that the surface temperature of a planet is "minus 291 degrees Celsius"; however, this is colder than absolute zero (-273ºC), and is thus scientifically impossible. Strangely, the producers of this episode never arranged to dub over this mistake. Links and References Special Guest Appearance By: *Diana Muldaur as Katherine Pulaski Guest Stars *Sam Anderson as The Assistant Manager *Jill Jacobson as Vanessa *Leo Garcia as The Bellboy Special Appearance By: *Noble Willingham as Texas Co-Stars *Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien *Gregory Beecroft as Mickey D *Unknown actor as Ziggy References 7 billion years ago; 2033; 2037; 2044; 2082; American flag; ammonia; blackjack; Cadillac; carbon; casino; casino chips; Celsius; Cernan; Charybdis; croupier; cryogenics; class K; Colonel; cowboy hat; craps; Decatur; dice; DNA; door; Earth; Evans (NASA); Fermat, Pierre de; Fermat's last theorem; gambling; Hotel Royale; hurricane; hydrogen-carbon helix; hydrogen; Jacob; Klingon; Klingon cruiser; Las Vegas; Lubbock; Math; Matthews, Todd; meters per second; methane; NASA; NCC-7100; Nevada; neon; nitrogen; phaser; poker; revolver; Stephen G. Richey; Rita; Room 727; Schmitt; slot machine; Sol system; telephone; Tennessee; Texas; Theta VIII; Theta 116 system; tornado; turkey; United Federation of Planets; United States Air Force; United States of America; United States dollar. Royale, The de:Hotel Royale es:The Royale fr:The Royale nl:The Royale